Repairing the Damage from Systemic Traumas, a Personal Guide.

To heal from the damage done from being a human in today’s world, let’s look at Systemic trauma.

The big four systemic traumas today are: 1) Money, Poverty, Financial insecurity/instability, 2) Degradation of nature, 3) Colonialism/Wars, 4) Discrimination on the basis of any kind of feature or character that you’ve been born with or cannot change. (e.g. ancestry or skin colour).

These traumas are part of the structures of our institutions, public policies, and ways of thinking about being, and they are deeply embedded in society and collective histories. In fact, they are what makes up society.

Why are they traumatic? Other than the obvious physical & mental suffering they have and continue to cause, it is because deep down we we know that this is not the way. This is not just. And, they could have (and should have been prevented) and, they weren’t.

We all have an inbuilt sense of dignity & fairness. And, that why when our systems fail us, it is all the more painful.

Systemic trauma pervades across various systems, such as healthcare, education and the justice system.

So, how do we heal from the impacts of these “big S” traumas that we are all subjected to, in varying degrees?

1) Nourish the Self: We have to attend to our own bodies, minds and nervous systems. Take ownership of our own spectrum of abilities to regulate ourselves, amidst the structural dissonance of our world today.

2) Compassionate connection/Relational responsibility: take ownership of our spectrum of responsiveness to relate to others in ways that restore dignity, instead of react to others in ways that compound indignity & injustice (this is a challenging one + a daily practice).

3) Collective cohesion: Move the spectrum of well-being for all towards a greater harmony & cohesion. Yes, that starts with restoring well-being for your own body-mind first, in even the simplest of ways, so that you can hold space for more of the collective field.

It’s obviously constant but profound work. And, I think it is the only way to creating a world worth living in.

I’d love to hear what you think, please feel free to e-mail me.

Disclaimer: As I grow, my views and opinions evolve. If anything written here hurts or harms you, reach out and let me know.